Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,946 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $4,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CL. Barclays raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $92.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.69 and its 200-day moving average is $93.61. The stock has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.